The invention relates to a circuit-breaking device and to a safety switch or motor protection switch.
Circuit-breaking devices are used as safety switches, motor protection switches and are in general used with a so-called adapter part placed upon current busbars as a completely separate element. The adapter part serves to be clamped onto the current busbars, and as a carrier module for the different circuit-breaking devices.
Adapters or current bus bar adapters, wherein the adapter part serves to be clamped on the current busbars including a carrier module for the different circuit-breaking device are known from EP 0 762 581. The current linkage between the current bus bars and the circuit breaking devices is accomplished by electrically connecting contact parts with the respective circuit-breaking devices by means of connection lines.
A drawback of the known systems resides in that the adapters have to be affixed on the current busbars as additional components and provided with connection lines or connection contacts, and that the circuit-breaking devices have to be mounted on the adapters as separate elements and have to be electrically connected with the connection lines or the connection contacts. If a circuit-breaking device is exchanged or dismounted, it is required that the outgoing conductors are removed from the respective circuit-breaking device and are reconnected subsequently. In addition, the circuit-breaking device is to be detached with respect to the adapter part prior to the disassembly, and the new circuit-breaking device is to be mounted after the exchange. If required, the current buses even have to be switched to be currentless.
The invention is based on the object to provide a circuit-breaking device which is easy to affix onto current busbars and which may be exchanged without the removal of outgoing conductors.
According to the invention this object is achieved by the features defined in patent claim 1. Additional embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims.